Dear Heloise: I had about 25 pounds of potatoes that I had to turn into potato salad. I boiled as many potatoes as I could in my 8-1/2-quart aluminum pot, and the potatoes turned the inside of my pot black. After two tries and a half hour of scrubbing that pot, I decided to quarter a lemon and throw the four pieces in the pot with the potatoes.

I was amazed. The potatoes got cooked, and my pot was like new! No black pot and no scrubbing! And no, the potatoes didn’t taste like lemon! — M.B., via email

GETTING THE LAST BIT OUT

Dear Heloise: When you squeeze all the toothpaste you can out of the tube, there is still plenty left in there. Just squeeze the tube flat and cut the empty part off. Use a pill bottle cap to cover the opening.

On lotion tubes, cut it in half and slide the bottom into the top. — Terry W. Ford, via email

NOTEPAD HINT

Dear Heloise: We also get a lot of requests for donations that include greeting cards, Christmas cards, notepads, socks, little decorations, calendars and bags. Unfortunately, we can’t give to everybody, and I don’t feel comfortable using the gifts if I don’t donate. (And how many calendars do you need?)

So, I hold onto them until I have a few, then I donate them to nursing homes in the area for their residents. The residents don’t go out shopping much, and having little things like these would be useful for them. — Tracy, in Connecticut

ABDUCTED CHILDREN

Dear Heloise: When I read a letter in your column about a family wearing the same shirts to find lost kids, it reminded me of a former co-worker’s instruction to his young children: If they were ever abducted, they were to continually repeat, “This is not my mother!” or “This is not my father!” — Annie Fugler, Denham Springs, Louisiana

SPIDER REPELLANT

Dear Heloise: Peppermint oil spray (diluted with water) repels spiders. I had spiders in my garage for over 30 years until a neighbor gave me some to spray inside of it. I haven’t had spiders in years now! — L. Haydel, via email.

— — —

Hints from Heloise run occasionally in Lifestyles. Readers may send a hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE, or email: Heloise@Heloise.com. Letters won’t be answered personally.